Do You Drink Caffeine?
This morning marks the beginning of my caffeine detox. Now, I don’t actually think there’s anything wrong with caffeine. In fact studies have shown that it may actually come with certain health perks like increased metabolism and reduced risk of diabetes, among others.
So why am I cutting caffeine out this week? Well, sometimes writers get lucky, and next week I am going to visit and write about a super luxurious but rather strict retreat program at the Ranch at Live Oaks in Malibu (or as Siobhan and I like to call it: Malibooya).
What’s on the menu? No much: no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no meat. What will be is yoga, hiking, swimming and clean (but probably small) vegetarian meals. I’m thoroughly excited, if a little scared.
This past Friday I got what I’d describe as a motivational phone call from one of the Ranch’s employees. The gentleman on the other end told me kindly (but firmly) that if I didn’t detox before coming on the retreat it would be veryveryvery hard. So here goes nothing.
While sugar, alcohol and meat are relatively easy to give up, coffee notsomuch. I haven’t gone without my multiple morning espressos for years, and I am definitely one of those cartoonish types who does not like speaking to anyone before I’ve had it.
What about you? Do you drink caffeine? Have you ever gone off it? Most importantly, do I have anything to look forward to people?!
P.S. I’m sipping yerba mate right now. I know it has some naturally occurring caffeine in it, but much less than coffee. Baby steps, I still have six days.
I never drink caffeine….makes me super jittery and ill to my stomach. I have never truly liked the taste of coffee….I always thought that I would learn to love it…or at least like it…but I really can’t get the stuff down.
Lucky! ;)
I stopped drinking caffeine in October, and it’s been great. I’ve (strangely, I know) had a lot more energy. I’ve also been drinking much more water and decaf green tea, so my skin has improved, I have a great deal more focus, and my stubborn belly fat has been slowly creeping off (finally!). I’m not entirely willing to say this was all coffee’s fault, but it’s nice to not have to have clear skin and to also not have to depend on a cup of coffee just to be able to be nice to people in the morning. Good luck at the Ranch!
I drink multiple shots of espresso every morning & love it. I have, however, at various times quit, which resulted in hideous migraines. Good luck!
Oooh…. I love caffeine. I am drinking a large, black coffee as I write this. Coffee actually makes me a better person. I discovered it in my late 20’s, and my biggest regret is that I didn’t start drinking it earlier. Seriously! College was a disaster for me, and coffee would have changed that. I am so much happier and more productive when I’ve had coffee. I also think it helps you stay thin. I never, ever put any sugar or milk in it, by the way.
I gave up caffeine once in college. the book i was using warned me i’d get a headache and not to take aspirin because…there’s caffeine in it! not to scare you, but i got the worst headache of my life that night, it came on suddenly in the middle of a film class and i had to leave an go lie down. i was fine the next day, but it hit home how much of an addiction caffeine is, i had withdrawal, plain and simple.
of course, it didn’t last. i’ve been a coffee drinker again for years. though now down to just two cups.
I had to give coffee up at 40. Something changed in my system. I got the caffeine headache but it goes away. I drink caffeine free green teas and love it. I feel better without coffee. I occasionally have a decaf coffee and don’t feel quite right. I know friends who have no problem with the full deal still but for me it was the best way to go. I used to crave it but that is gone. Now tell me how it is easy to give up sugar. I love my dark chocolate. That is my vice. The retreat sounds great. Have fun.
The only caffeine I drink is real, whole tea leaves, but I only have that once a week or so
I was off caffeine for years while trying to conceive and got back on it when I was hanging out with British tea drinker moms! The tea was fine for me (I didn’t neeeeed it) and I could go a few days without my tea, but it’s a slippery slope back to coffee. I’m one of those people who get super anxious on coffee and I never feel like it gives me good energy so I just quit a month ago. I do love the taste of coffee and I miss the morning ritual of it, so I sometimes have decaf. I find that I have way more energy in the morning (don’t feel so groggy and hungover) and my energy stays good all day where on coffee I would need a little pick-up in the afternoon. My advice is to actually go cold turkey. You may have a headache for a couple of days, but it’s easier that way. PS. You are so lucky! I’ve always wanted to do one of those retreats!
I’ve become a non-morning person every since I stopped drinking a Latte every morning. They made me smile so much! The day I decided to not drink milk anymore came with the disappointment that I won’t be making these drinks again… and for a month all I had was americano, and little by little came from 4 shots of espresso to 2, and now barely 1. I think that, if I continue to thin it out, I will be able to completely give it up.
Props to you! doing it all on scratch! I have to take baby steps :)
Last July, I decided to give up drinking coffee as a regular part of my day for a few reasons…
I realized that I was insanely dependent on it – if I didn’t have my morning coffee I would be out of sorts and irritable.
Drinking coffee every morning acted as an un-intentional appetite suppressant and I would often have my first bite of food at around noon, after consuming about 3 cups of coffee in the morning.
I also realized that I wasn’t feeling that great in my stomach – I used to refer to this as “coffee gut-rot” and this was probably due to the sludge coffee from the office coffee machine.
I’ve now cut coffee out of my day and I now only drink tea, chai tea and green tea…now I know all of these have caffeine, but it just seems less aggressive than with coffee. I now have breakfast because I feel like, whereas before, those Lattes felt like they were a meal in a cup. If I don’t have my tea, i don’t freak out and I’m fine with just water. Also, when I do occasionally have that cup of coffee, it feels like a treat vs. an essential component of my day. I got the withdrawal headaches, but it lasted 2 days or so – no biggie!
All in all – I think it’s also a healthy excessive to break out of routines to realize just how hooked on them you actually were.
Major caffeine addict right here. Throughout the latter part of my life, I’ve gone from one type of caffeine to another – from soda to Red Bull to coffee to soda to Red Bull and back to coffee. I am now happily in a monogamous and indulgent relationship with coffee. However, I have bad chronic acid reflux, so my doctor recently urged me to quit coffee, coldturkey. (Apparently it’s not so good for acid reflux-prone people to drink). I knew there was no way I could quit coldturkey, so I gradually decreased my intake from 6 cups a day to 1 or 2. Last week I tried going down to 0 cups…. and day #1 of coffee detox resulted in a massive migraine and a very unhappy me (and that’s putting it mildly). Needless to say, I’m back to 1 or 2 cups a day.
I personally think that if it makes me happy (and more tolerable) then why should I give it up? But I give huge kudos to you if you can do it! And when you do, maybe you could give me a few tips? Good luck!!!
I love coffee dearly. I only drink one cup daily, and it’s a comforting part of my day. I savor it.
In the past I’ve given up coffee, and I must say that the first cup after the detox can be a little intense. I recommend easing slowly back into it when you’re done. Judging by what you drink each morning, your body has developed a slight resistance to the effects of caffeine. So, when you have your next cup, your resistance will be gone, and you’ll notice the effects more strongly–which is actually kinda fun.
I am down to just one cup of organic green tea in the morning. Gave up coffee a few months back. And I have to say I feel much better. Occasionally I will run out and have a few sips of my husbands coffee and feel rather ick and jumpy. I have a 15 month old so I do need that little AM boost, but I feel better about green tea. My skin is better, I think my metabolism has improved to be honest, but that may be b/c I am drinking more water. I just feel cleaner, if that makes sense.
I definitely have a love-hate relationship with coffee. I love it for the taste and the effects of the caffeine; I hate it because I know I could become addicted to it and never stop! I occasionally drink decaf for the taste-mostly in the afternoon because I can’t have caffeine past 1pm-or else my 8pm bedtime is hard to make. I have about 2 cups every other day, and on my “off” days, I’ll have some version of tea. Being in graduate school I’ve found that I need some sort of caffeine each day, and I really really look forward to the coffee days. I am also a competitive runner and I like to have coffee before races to give me a performance boost.
Alexandra-I’ve found that yerba mate has really amazing effects if you drink more than about 2 cups. Once in college we had a mate tea party at around 5pm and I wasn’t able to get to bed until about midnight-so if you want heightened awareness and concentration, I’d stick with that!
On the sugar detox, are you to avoid all foods with sugar in it? I just discovered that non-fat milk has more than 10 grams of sugar and that really surprised me-I’ve never been obsessed with sugar, but now I’m more aware of what foods it is in.
ahhh alexandra, you’ll have to enthrall us this week with your caffeine withdrawals. not that i’m wishing them on you by any means, but they can be nothing short of horrendous.
the first time i “gave up” coffee, i had been drinking it daily for well over a decade. i literally thought i was dying; i had a migraine, i was achy and sore, i couldn’t concentrate and work was nothing short of excruciating. even my bitchy boss stopped me and asked if i was okay, as my countenance, as she called it, was way off. the weirdest thing was i was coveting my coworker’s diet cokes. never drank the stuff yet suddenly i was salivating at the sound of a can popping. anyway, after about four days of this seemingly random illness, my boyfriend calls me and says, “sorry babe, looks like i accidentally bought decaf”. grrrr. it all made sense, in vivid detail.
of course, at this stage of detox, a smart girl would walk away from the bean and never look back. but not being the brightest crayon in the box, i actually left work early that day and bought myself the tallest & strongest cup of coffee i could find. it was so freaking good, and immediately everything was right in my world.
good luck to you on your retreat. hippie. TOTALLY KIDDING. i think it’s rad, you’re a brave gal. :))
HA. Honestly, today was kind of brutal. Focus? Totally shot. No major headaches though, so I’m grateful for that. Luckily this retreat is anything but hippie… (check out the pics!).
I start the first half hour of every morning with my hands wrapped around a steaming cup of joe….as long as I am allowed to consume it, I will. I limit myself very strictly to only two cups a day b/c too much caffeine will make me too jittery.
Over the summer, my bff ended up in the hospital and I had to catch a flight out…and she does not drink coffee. Come the following morning, I had the worst withdrawl headache I had ever. I got up and immedietly went to the nearest coffee shop and bought a coffee. That was when I discovered how dependant I have become on it,
Here’s a l’il article about the sort-of science of coffee with links to more sciencey stuff: http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/does_coffee_work/
Seems like the jury’s still out on what – if anything – caffeine is really ‘doing’ for you besides the obvious comforts and deliciousness. Lack of focus, headaches etc.. all seem to be more related to withdrawal symptoms of the drug which i guess would mean that after a few days, your body shouldn’t be affected.
But then there’s the whole issue of the comfort, the routine and the deliciousness…
Doctor Amy!
I’ve weaned myself from coffee a number of times, just to see what it was like. The detox is not so good. Even with the weaning, I had headaches. I switched over to non-caf or low-caf tea. Sorry, it just isn’t the same. I enjoy a cuppa now and then, but I’ve gotta have my coffee to make me feel truly alive in the morning. I love the smell waking up. I really don’t have any other true vices, so I allow myself this one indulgence. I figure, if I die tomorrow, I hope I’m 1) not on a diet and 2) holding a steaming cup of coffee in my hand.
Oh I forgot to mention a key benefit!! Reduced cellulite! Seriously, I don’t know that it is true for everyone, but i swear I have about 75% less. I have cut back on alcohol too, so that may have helped.
Argentinians are as much addicted to yerba mate as americans to coffee. However, it doesn’t have any of the side effects of coffee, so if you are going to replace one addiction with other, mate is a good choice :)
i hope it is/was wonderful!!
i did go to a spa but did read the book clean and then did the 21 day challenge
which also didnt allow all the things you listed
amazing and life changing
it allowed me to switch my families eating habits which were healthy but this kicked up many notches
i also believe it helped me tremendously w/ training and completing for my 1/2 marathon